Westmoreland County high school notebook: Official start of football camp right around corner

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, August 12, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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After weeks of noncontact workouts and five days of heat acclimatization, WPIAL football teams finally will open training camp Monday.

The thought of donning full equipment and going full force against teammates gets players’ interest way up.

It’s football season again.

“Just the excitement of the team and coaches,” Greensburg Central Catholic senior quarterback Tyree Turner said. “The fresh spray-painted lines and rusted sleds. The coaches whistle-blowing and stuff like that just gets you hyped for the season.”

Teams will “camp” for two weeks before Week Zero.

They will scrimmage Aug. 19, then either play a game or second scrimmage Aug. 25.

Linemen particularly appreciate the start of camp. Quarterbacks, receivers and defensive backs have been busy with 7-on-7 passing scrimmages throughout the summer. Linemen did not have much to do other than weight train and train to wait.

“I am beyond excited for next week to start,” Hempfield lineman Joe Dolinski said. “When I think of camp, I mainly think of the sound of the pads cracking, competing to get better each day and building bonds with my teammates.”

Au revoir, for now

Recent Belle Vernon graduate Viva Kreis is learning how to speak French — on the fly.

Since graduation in June, she has moved to France.

Kreis is training with a professional handball team near Paris. The team is led by her Team USA coach.

Kreis is the only American working out with the team. She will take courses online through the Walter Kronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State.

One of her courses focuses on the Olympics. How germane for Kreis, who has Olympic dreams. She has her sights on the 2028 games in Los Angeles.

Her mother, Mary, her No. 1 fully committed supporter, moved out of the country with her daughter.

They stored much of their belongings at a relative’s home in Michigan, gave away some more to charity and packed eight suitcases and two fold-up bikes for their 4,000-mile trip across the North Atlantic.

“(Viva) has picked up a little French already and is actually with her team on a team-building exercise on a muddy obstacle course today while I bike to the laundromat,” Mary Kreis said in an email. “Besides being homeless and not having found an apartment just yet, the adventure has been incredible so far.”

Craggette eligible

Das’jon Craggette, a senior football player who transferred from Greensburg Central Catholic to Geibel because a bus route no longer runs from his hometown of Connellsville to Greensburg, was ruled eligible for postseason play by the WPIAL.

Craggette, a 1,000-yard rusher who scored 16 touchdowns last season, is playing football for Southmoreland, which has a co-operative with Geibel, a school without a football team.

Crowell inducted

Late Jeannette running back John “Showboat” Crowell was inducted into the inaugural National High School Football Hall of Fame on July 30 at Canton McKinley High School in Ohio.

Crowell, who played for the Jayhawks in the 1930s, was part of an esteemed first-year class that included the late Jim Brown, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Archie Manning, Cooper Manning, coach Paul Brown, Bernie Kosar and others.

Crowell’s grandson, Lamont “Showboat” Robinson, another Jeannette product, founded the new hall of fame.

GCC girls draw offers

The dynamic girls basketball backcourt of Erica Gribble and Mya Morgan at Greensburg Central Catholic continues to attract college attention.

Gribble, who will be a sophomore, added two more Division I scholarship offers, from Villanova and Quinnipiac.

Those schools join Buffalo, St. Joseph’s and Navy as schools that have offered.

Morgan picked up a Division II offer from Wheeling.

Gribble averaged 16.9 points and Morgan 16.8 as GCC reached the PIAA semifinals last season.

The girls helped GCC go 8-0 in a recent team camp at Cal (Pa.).

Paterline recognized

Franklin Regional soccer player Abby Paterline was named to the United States Youth Soccer National President’s Cup Best XI team when she played in the event earlier this summer is Wichita, Kan.

Ugliest shirt wins

The inaugural Moe Rosensteel Ugly Shirt Golf Shirt Scramble will be Oct. 8 at Butler’s Golf Course (Lakeside) in Elizabeth.

Cost is $500 per foursome or $125 per golfer.

Hole sponsorships are available.

The golfer with the “ugliest” golf polo will win a special prize.

Proceeds benefit the Kaitlyn “Moe” Rosensteel Scholarship Foundation.

For more information visit the Rosensteel website.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Jeannette